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louis304
08-11-2002, 01:09 AM
im trying to install redhat on my lap top and im clueless its asking me to partition and i have no idea what to do can someone help?
fancypiper
08-11-2002, 01:42 AM
You're not very specific about what you are trying to do, so I am lost too.

Are you planning on running just Linux? Are you going to dual boot with some flavor of Windows?

Give a hint...
louis304
08-11-2002, 01:52 AM
its tough to be specific when you dont know what your doing but what i would like to do is have windows and linux until i get used to linux but when i try to install it wont let me get past partitioning and i dont know what partitioning is
fancypiper
08-11-2002, 02:02 AM
See lno's own Installation NHFs (http://linuxnewbie.org/nhf/Installation) for help. Here is more detail on partitioning: Linux Partition HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/Partition/)

What flavor of Windows? The filesystem matters.

Filesystems HOWTO (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Filesystems-HOWTO.htm)

What flavor of Redhat?

Red Hat Linux Manuals (http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux)
Sledge1954
08-11-2002, 02:20 AM
Right now your hard drive is probably partitioned as one big Fat32 partition for Windows. It would be if I had set it up.

What RedHat needs to do do is divide up (partition) the physical drive into several logical drives to allow for the installation of the Linux OS and file system, which are incompatible with and cannot exist on the same logical drive as Windows. It will also need to install the LILO boot manager to allow you to select which OS to boot.

Your physical hard drive is probably /dev/hda. Linux WANTS 3 partitions:

Device MountPoint Size Purpose
================================================== ====================
/dev/hda1 /boot 23.5MB boot image and files
/dev/hda2 swap 133.3MB swap space
/dev/hda3 / Whatever is left. the kitchen sink

The sizes above are what the SuSE partitioner picked for a setup on a 4Gig HD. The partitioner supplied with SuSE 8.0 can resize a DOS partition, but I don't know about the Red Hat partitioner.

What you need to do is clean out your Windows of all unneeded software, defrag the drive, determine how much space Windows needs (leave a cushion), and how much space you can devote to Linux.

If the Red Hat partitioner cannot resize the DOS partition, you might want to download or pick up a copy of SuSE 8.0. The SuSE partioner can non destructively resize your DOS partition, and the install program is a piece of cake.

Good Luck.